Information

MARGO JO CAVIS

“Can you imagine floating weightless underwater, the sounds of your breathing and the bubbles, the interesting creatures you will encounter? All of these elements are a driving influence in my art.” Margo’s underwater surreal paintings often mix together realistic underwater elements with surreal situations and experiences. “Since diving is such a surreal experience on its own, I try to capture how it feels to be underwater – more than the actual reality.”

“In 2002, I opened up my world to experience scuba diving. Entering this almost unreal world makes me feel so alive and passionate. I fell in love with this other world, below the surface of the sea. The physical feelings when floating weightless, the sounds of your breathing and the bubbles…. they all influence my painting. Many of the strange and beautiful animals that I encounter while diving add to the exciting environment. I paint from my own experiences and my own photography. I paint things how I see them… how they merge together in my head and turn into dreamscapes inspired from both – underwater sights as well as my personal experiences and emotions.”

Photography influenced, Margo takes underwater photographs or video as she glides by a shipwreck, sharks, beautiful coral or a hidden octopus. She also loves to photograph the other divers and later in the studio, these photographs become an important catalyst to her paintings. Margo is an avid traveler, who has spent time diving in Australia on the Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania, The Red Sea, Seychelles, Cyprus as well as several areas of the United States, Central America and the Caribbean. Her love for the ocean has inspired her to do Marine Conservation work both in the US and abroad.

“Since my work usually begins as an inspiration, idea or just a ‘flash’ it generates an instant desire and need to paint. Sometimes I envision an image of a finished piece and work towards that. Most of the time, just a sense or a feeling is my motivation for starting and then the painting seems to take on a life of its own. It evolves and changes, almost as if it is telling me what to do, therefore the result, is not always what I expected to happen. My best art happens when I surrender myself to the creative process without worrying what the finished painting will look like.”

“One of the hardest things about the art that I do is what to say when people want to know the meaning of one of my paintings. I would much rather allow people to draw their own conclusions, come up with their own story – personalize it. If I can get the viewer to do that, if I can get each person to interpret the images in their own way, then I feel I have accomplished something really special. It is a piece of me – my soul, my vision, left vulnerable & exposed for everyone to see and to decide for themselves what it means to them.”